OCULAR IMPLANT DELIVERY ASSEMBLIES WITH DISTAL CAPS

• US 20080033351A1
• Filed: 10/25/2006
• Published: 02/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allergan Incorporated (Abbvie Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Allergan Incorporated (Abbvie Incorporated)
• Inventors: Chang, James N., Trogden, John T., Robinson, Michael R., Lyons, Robert T., Orilla, Werhner C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,039,761 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 604/57
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 9/0017 implantable in, or in contact with, the eye, e.g. ocular inserts
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 9/0051 Ocular inserts, ocular implants

Abstract

Ocular implant delivery assemblies are provided which include a cannula having a lumen extending therethrough, a proximal end, a proximal end opening, a distal end, a distal end opening, and a lumen extending through the cannula. A cap is provided having a closed distal end, being in contact with the outer wall of the cannula, and covering the distal end and the distal end opening of the cannula, the cap being structured to allow the distal end and the distal end opening of the cannula to pass through the cap as the cannula is passed into an eye. An ocular implant is located in the lumen. The implant may be sealed in the cannula without the addition of a liquid carrier or it may be contained in a liquid carrier medium in the cannula. The implant may be made up of a number of microparticles having different compositions or different forms. The assembly also includes a sleeve located on the proximal end of the cannula and suitable for coupling the assembly to a syringe containing a pushing gel.

Claims

1. The ocular implant delivery assembly comprising:

(a) a cannula having an outer wall, a proximal end, a proximal end opening, a distal end, a distal end opening, and a lumen extending through the cannula;

(b) an ocular implant sized and structured for implantation in an eye, the ocular implant being located in the lumen; and

(c) a cap having a closed distal end, being in contact with the outer wall of the cannula, and covering the distal end and the distal end opening of the cannula, the cap being structured to allow the distal end and the distal end opening of the cannula to pass through the cap as the cannula is passed into an eye.

2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the cannula is a 25 gauge or higher gauge syringe needle.

3. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the cap is structured to be pierced by the cannula in passing the cannula into an eye.

4. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the distal end of the cannula has sufficient sharpness to be passed into an eye, and the cap is structured to allow the distal end and the distal end opening to pierce and pass through the cap without substantially detrimentally affecting the sharpness of the distal end of the cannula.

5. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the cap is structured to move proximally along the cannula as the cannula is passed into an eye.

6. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the cap has sufficient softness to move proximally along the cannula as the cannula is passed into an eye.

7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the cap comprises a polymeric material.

8. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the cap comprises a silicone polymeric material.

9. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the cap covering the distal end and distal end opening of the cannula is substantially transparent and is effective to prevent the implant passing through the distal end opening of the cannula.

10. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the position of the cap on the outer surface of the cannula after the distal end and the distal end opening of the cannula are passed into an eye provides an indication of the extent to which the cannula has been passed into the eye.

11. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the cap has an outer diameter in a range of about 4 mm to about 10 mm.

12. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the outer wall of the cannula has no openings through to the lumen between the proximal opening and the distal opening, and the cap has a marking indicating the distance between the marking and the cannula.

13. The assembly of claim 1 which further comprises a removable proximal closure element positioned relative to the cannula to close the proximal end of the cannula.

14. The assembly of claim 1 which further comprises a bioerodible polymeric plug positioned relative to the cannula to reduce the size of or close the proximal end opening of the cannula.

15. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the ocular implant comprises a plurality of particles.

16. The assembly of claim 15 wherein the plurality of particles includes a number of particles in a range of about 5 to about 200.

17. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the ocular implant comprises a plurality of particles in a one-by-one array along the length of the lumen.

18. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the ocular implant comprises a plurality of particles selected from the group consisting of spheres, rods, filaments, plaques and combinations thereof.

19. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the ocular implant comprises a plurality substantially uniformly sized microspheres.

20. The assembly of claim 15 wherein the plurality of particles includes particles having different compositions.

21. The assembly of claim 15 wherein the plurality of particles comprise particles having different release rates.

22. The assembly of claim 1 wherein lumen has a diameter of less than about 350 microns.

23. The assembly of claim 1 further comprising a carrier medium located in the cannula.

24. The assembly of claim 23 wherein the ocular implant comprises a plurality of particles in contact with the carrier medium in the lumen.

25. The assembly of claim 1 wherein substantially no liquid material is present in the lumen with the ocular implant.

26. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the ocular implant comprises a cortiosteriod component.

27. The assembly of claim 1 which further comprises a syringe assembly coupled to the cannula and effective, when activated, in passing the ocular implant out of the cannula.

28. The assembly of claim 1 which further comprises a push-rod assembly coupled to the cannula and effective, when activated, in passing the ocular implant out of the cannula.

29. A method of implanting an ocular implant into an eye comprising:

providing an ocular implant delivery apparatus comprising an elongate cannula having a distal end, and a distal end opening and a lumen extending through the cannula, an ocular implant sized and adapted for implantation in an eye and located in the lumen, a cap covering the distal end and the distal end opening of the cannula, and a force applying device coupled to the cannula and structured to urge the implant distally upon the application of force;

passing at least a portion of the cannula through the cap and into the eye; and

causing the force applying device to apply a force to urge the implant distally, thereby placing the implant in the eye.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the passing step is effective to move the cap proximally on the cannula.